Monday, June 20, 2011

Last night Dispatch, an independent indie/folk/jam band with a touch of reggae, became the first musicians ever to perform at New Jersey's Red Bull Arena. The concert was impressive, to say the least.

Dispatch's last tour, entitled Zimbabwe, filled Madison Square Garden for three consecutive nights. Last nights the crowd seemed less like sardines in a tin can and more like swedish fish; dancing loosely inside a large, bright yellow arena. A banner around the 2nd deck of the arena emitted this yellow glow, changing to red and tan and green, that decorated the general admission floor audience as they sang almost every lyric.

Several times during the course of the night guitarist Chad Urmston and bassist Pete Heimbold stepped away from the mic in awe as the audience continued to sing the lyrics, including background vocals and harmonies. During 'Bang, Bang" the audience seemed to split into two sections as some chose to sing Chad's line: "Wake up to tell me," while others echoed with Pete's line: "Come on wake up!"

The set consisted of all three band members ziplining down from the catwalks of the arena, red bull helmets, and, of course, an encore from atop their trusted van Wimpy, who was parked to the immediate right of the general admission crowd.

The Red Bull Arena began its concert venue with an amazing crowd and a veteran band. Time will tell who plays there next!

This is the tour tee; it reads "Dispatch Summer 2011"

Here is the set list:

Melon Bend
Here We Go
Open Up
Cover This
Time Served
Con Man
Lightening
Bang Bang
Beto
Passerby

Then the acoustic set began:
Hey Hey
Silent Steeples (completely floored my eardrums...)
Valentine
Prince of Spades
Flying Horses
Past The Falls
Turn This Ship Around
Two Coins
Broken American
The General
Mission
Elias

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Be wary of a man who listens to ambient; he has but one thing to loose.

Created in '94, this track comes from a very special time for Aphex Twin. As a solo electronic artist (whose birthname is Richard Davis James), he had to create the technology he used to produce music he 'heard from within himself.' This ambient track embodies emotions of pain, suffering and beauty, without ever leaving a tonal center of a single chord.Changing dynamics and subliminal melodies haunt the listener as waves roll over their ears. Simply put, this piece reminds me terrible times; terrible times of the past and terrible times that I will have to endure in the future. Yet, as one youtuber puts it, "This song seems sad, yet inspiring, like remembering a painful moment and willing to fix that mistake."